Submissions link for 6th Annual Philadelphia Independent Film Festival ... #piff #uff #Pi6

Festival submissions are welcome at: PhilaIndie6
Thank you very much for the interest in our festival. We look forward to the discussion. Keep it coming and feel free to stop by!
The Festival Team
6th Annual Philadelphia Independent Film Festival ... #piff #Pi6 #uff

Happy Holidays to all Philadelphia Independent Film Festival fans and film makers!

Happy Holidays to all Philadelphia Independent Film Festival fans and film makers and many good returns in 2013. We are excited to announce that we have launched our updated website for festival #6 prior to 2013! This is a first for us (we have traditionally put the updated site online in February) and we are proud to let you know. We will have a total overhaul as the months go by. Stick with us and tell your friends to subscribe for updates.
Do not forget that this year we have a new Box Office and that is located at 2002 Ludlow Street Philadelphia, Pa 19103. This is the home of Elkman Advertising. Elkman has 3 generations of marketing and PR experience under their belt and we are very excited to work and join forces with them.
We look forward to seeing you all and look forward to 2013.
We'll see you at the festival,
Benjamin Barnett Festival Director Philadelphia Independent Film Festival #6 June 26 - 30, 2013. @

Former Media Bureau Artist in residence - Curt Chambers "Out Of Body" new music video.

Here's to a great fest friend making video's and waves. Hit Curt up for soundtrack work when you can. You will not be disappointed. ~ Ed

iKiBEAT/SILENT REUNION/BLACK TIE AFFAIR/PHILADELPHIA INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL - 2011

Live from the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival 4 archive. Thanks to our friend Oya for posting.

Preparing for festival #6 June 26-30, 2013

Great team meeting today. The camp is in action! We have great things moving for festival #6 June 26 - 30, 2013. Follow along at Fest Twitter feed for up to date details. WAB has been set up and we should be live November 1st. Any questions, email or call us! We look forward to another great festival with lots to come. Benjamin Barnett Festival Director

Philadelphia Independent Film Festival Tumblr account

Fest fans - W have some big news coming down the pike and are looking forward to sharing. Aside from working on a cross country tour of Stephon "Stix" Josey's film "Angel's Around Me" which includes a stop at the world famous

Grauman's Chinese Theatre - Hollywood,

we are about to embark on building our new studio. We are very excited about this and are sure you will be as well. :)

With that, here is our tumblr account: Please share and sign up for our feed. You will not regret it! 

Festival Tumblr

~ ed

A Jew in Maos China - a review of The Revolutionary

China is very much in the forefront of our current geopolitical dialogue today. To the unknowing, it has been at the forefront for decades. Thinking of the film The Revolutionary that screened at the National Constitution Center made us think of the times we have picked up and left home for change,  adventure and / or intrigue. Rarely do many leave to take part in global change.

Produced and directed by Lucy Ostrander and Don Sellers, a married couple from Seattle, and Irv Drasnin, “The Revolutionary” was partially based on “The Man Left Behind,” a memoir by Rittenberg, who is now a 91-year-old consultant to American businesses in China. It is a must see documentary that tells a story that once told, just might change how you see China today.

Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/the-arty-semite/159051/a-jew-in-maos-china/#ixzz209VtERg8

http://blogs.forward.com/the-arty-semite/159051/a-jew-in-maos-china/


~ Thank you to Forward.com and blogger Laura Goldman

Philadelphia Independent Film Festival 2012 Laurel

Official Philadelphia Independent Film Festival 2012 Laurel

Philadelphia Independent Film Festival 5 - Festival Winners 2012

Best Feature:

1^st - Things I Don’t Understand Director - Director:  David Spaltro

2^nd - Maybe Tomorrow – Director: Michael Wolfe

Honorable Mention – Santiago - Director: Felix Martinez

Best First Time Director (Feature)

Angels Around Me – Director: Stephen “Stix” Josey

Best Short:

1^st – Organized Criminal – Director: George Santini

Honorable Mention – Nausea – Director: Jeff Curren

Best Local Feature:

1^st – Benny the Bum – Director: Paul and Dan Cantagallo

Honorable Mention – The Descending – Director: Kyle Thompson

Best Local Short:

1^st - Welcome Home – Director: Danny Donnelly

Best Sci-Fi Feature

1^st – Towers – Director: Jet Wintzer

Best Sci-Fi Short

1^st –Serum – Director: Chidi Ozeih

Best Comedy Feature:

1^st Trailer Park Jesus – Director: Sean Gerowin

Best Documentary Feature:

1^st - Contradictions of Fair Hope – Director: Epatha Merkerson

2^nd – The Revolutionary - Director: Lucy Ostrander, Irv Drasnin, Don Sellers
Honorable Mention- Bailout (US) - Director Sean Fahey

Best Documentary Short:

1^st – If I Make It, I Win – Director: Roberto Ferri

Best Social Documentary:

1^st It’s A Girl Thing – Director: Shannon Silva

Best Music Documentary:

1^st – Inside the Perfect Circle: The story of Joel Thome – Director: Chris Pepino

2^nd – Diary of a Decade – Director: Jason Orr

Best Foreign Documentary

1^st – In The Name of Our Mothers (Poland) – Director: Mary Skinner

Best Foreign Feature

1^st – Duck Hunter (Italy) – Director: Edgidio Veronesi

2^nd – Zima (Germany) – Katerina Stankovic

Best Foreign Short

1^st – Ausreichend (Germany) – Director: Isabel Prahl

2^nd  - Sea Pavillion (South Africa) – Director: Todd Somodevilla

Honorable Mention – Suddenly Zinal (Iran) – Director: Navid Azed

Best Animation

1^st – Landscape (France) – Director Anabela Costa

2^nd – The Game (Poland) – Director: Marcin Janiec

Honorable Mention – O-Bon (US) – Director: Robert Kauffman

Best Music Video

1^st - Magic Sounds of Arrows (Sweden) – Director: Oskar Gullstrand

2^nd – It's Over Now - KIN4LIFE (US) - Director: Dorian G. Stone

Thank you,

Benjamin F. Barnett

Festival Director

Cost of Construction playing tonight!! Producer Flavia Colgan in attendence.

Cost of Construction

Produced by Flavia Colgan

Directed by Jordan Ehrlich

Will be playing tonight! Flavia Colgan will be in attendance.

5:30pm at the Franklin Institute

8:30pm at the First Unitarian Church (The Sanctuary)

17 people die everyday on construction sites across the country. Three OSHA officials have resigned in the past five years.  Government is stone walling efforts to remedy these preventable disasters.

Entertainment company Veritas Gold, LLC visits festival #Pi5

The Philadelphia Independent Film Festival is just one such events Harold Whitfield, owner of media and entertainment company Veritas Gold, LLC visits each year. “I get a chance to see a lot of good work,” he said of independent festivals. “The only difference between an independent film and a studio film is who pays for it.” Whitfield said he’s been involved in major film projects including The Help, Contagion, Ladder 49 and Syriana and focuses on funding and legislative issues related to the film industry. He said there’s one thing that stands out most in any film. “Good storytelling is key to everything, no matter what the technology is. And if you can tell a good story, you fall into that five percent of screenplays that are in development that I guess David Trottier and the Screenwriter’s Bible talk about being successful projects.” Whitfield said he frequently sees films that are promising, but that need to be developed more in order to make them commercially viable. “It’s the art, but at the same time, 70 percent in my mind, of the business is now business, and about 35 percent or 30 percent is actually the art.”

With new markets opening up in new countries, many of which provide more government and financial support to filmmakers, Whitfield said that competition in filmmaking will only become stiffer. Independent film festivals, he said, are a good way to see films that are more focused on art, which, he said, is refreshing, but cautioned independent film makers who want to make a career out of their work to keep business in mind. “I want them to understand that it’s alright if you have a full time job, but if you want to do this for a living, you want to buy a house and live in down town Philadelphia, you have to meet a certain bench mark,” he said. Whitfield came to the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival on invitation and was in attendance at several movies on Saturday night.

Red Corvette premiers at Franklin Institute as part of the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival 5

A crowd of over a hundred gathered at the Franklin Institute IMAX as Red Corvette revved up it's engine for it's Philadelphia premiere at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival. Red Corvette, as fast paced as the titular car, is the story of Cindy Reese, an angst ridden and lonely suburban high school senior. She can't wait to graduate and is crestfallen when a rival's sabotage makes her fail what was supposed to be her final year of high school. Cindy is forced to enroll in summer school where she meets sultry Bella Fagone, the daughter of a mob boss. The film focuses on the vulnerability of insecure teenage girls as Cindy, seduced by Bella's confidence and glamor, finds herself drawn into her new friend's world of sex, drugs, danger and, ultimately, death. The independent film is the creation of Philadelphia success story, Frank Lisi. Sarah Steele Wilson for #Pi5

STOP BY THE FU CHURCH AND TRESTLE INN TO CHAT WITH PIFF

Imbibe and converse with filmmakers , festival organizers ,general film enthusiasts, and probably a lot of people in bands at the PIFF headquarters at The First Unitarian Church (any time during the festival) and until 9 pm tonight at the Trestle Inn.

Trestle Inn Extended Happy Hour (til 9 pm tonight)
Just show your PIFF ticket stubs or passes for $3 drafts, $4 whiskey sours, $5 cocktails, and a $5 Trestle Special (a cold can of Narragansett Lager and a shot of Old Crow)

Trestle Inn
11th & Callowhill (on the corner)

PIFF Headquarters
First Unitarian Church
2125 Chestnut St

PIFF at the RAVEN LOUNGE

Stroll over to the Raven Lounge this evening for a program of made men and good fellas, followed by some comedic horror:

6:00pm - Momo: The Sam Giancana Story (Documentary- Dir. Dimitri Logothetis)
This documentary on Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana exposes his complicity in the Kennedy Assassination, the death of Marilyn Monroe, and the CIA's attempted assassination of Castro, as well as a wealth of murders and intrigue, through never before seen interviews with Giancana's daughters and family members, who also offer a glimpse into the personal life of this dangerous, complex, and influential crime figure.

8:00pm – Sleeping With The Fishes (Drama/Comedy- Dir. Peter Defeo and Todd Wolfe)
Philadelphia Mob's new recruit, Armand Alfonso, finds himself at odds with his new colleagues' drug operations and his new love interest just so happens to be the Don's wife.

9:45pm – The Horror of Barnes Folly (Comedy Horror - Dir. Jonathan Rach)
When a misunderstood MONSTER stumbles into the small backwoods hillbilly town of BARNES FOLLY, it is up to DEPUTY JOHNSON (Gorbos), an inept, newly transplanted cop from the big city, to ease the terrified town and bring the Monster to justice. He forms a mismatch posse, including his slightly psychic girlfriend (Bell), the town's only doctor (Muhammad), an odd woodsman (Gubbins), and Jeff, the hillbilliest of all hillbillies (Rodrick), to catch the horrible, horrific, horrifying Monster.

The Raven Lounge (1718 Sansom St)

PIFF IN IMAX AT THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE

How often do you get to see independent features in IMAX? PIFF has joined with the Franklin Institute to make it happen! Don’t miss your chance to see some of the most anticipated films of the fest in a unique setting. It’s like watching a movie in a spaceship (with less murderous androids).

5:15pm -  True Bromance (Comedy/Drama - Dir. Sebastian Doggart)
A film about the absurd role our friends and family play when we fall in love. Starring Devin Ratray (Home Alone), Jim Norton (HBO), Adrian Grenier (Entourage), Carol Connors(Rocky), Frank Luntz (Fox News) & Condi Rice (Waterboard, baby, waterboard!)

7:20 -  Red Corvette (Drama - Dir. Frank Lisi)
Cindy Reese, a suburban high school senior, who is burdened with more than her fair share of teenage angst. Utterly friendless, she longs for the day when she can graduate and leave all her troubles behind. But it won't be easy as a rival of hers manages to make her fail for the year. Cindy is forced to enroll in Summer School, where she finds herself seated next to the extremely sultry Bella Fagone, the daughter of a mob boss. The two immediately bond whereupon Cindy soon finds her staid suburban life turned upside down. Watch as Bella introduces her new-found protege to the seedy and oftentimes dangerous world of her NYC night life, a world filled with illicit drug use and eventually cold-blooded murder.

9:10 - Angels Around Me – (Drama - Dir. Stephen “Stix” Josey)
A film about choices. Everyone makes choices in life; some good, some bad. Angels provide a special few another chance. We all have protection around us that we can't see ... the Angels Around Me.

FRANKLIN INSTITUTE ( 222 N. 20th Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 (215) 448-1111)

PIFF DAYTIME DOCS

The best breakfast is food-for-thought. Ease into your Saturday with an iced coffee and PIFF’s daytime doc offerings at venues throughout the city :

NATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER (525 Arch Street)

11:30am - Bailout (85 min) (Documentary - Dir. Sean Fahey)
Fed up with corrupt bailout banks trying to foreclose on them, five Chicagoans drive to Vegas with stacks of cash to give themselves a long overdue bailout of their own.

A feature documentary that explores the causes and effects of America's financial crisis. We discover how politically powerful banks are systemically eliminating America's middle class through fraudulent home foreclosures. An enigma wrapped in Doc hybrid form, Bailout is a social documentary that explores American anger with the Wall Street elites who survive and thrive on government bailouts, fraud, & political corruption.

PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS (118 North Broad Street)

1:00pm – Mixed Tape Five Spot (Documentary)
A short documentary of a very special time in Philadelphia music history. The Black Lily weekly music sessions at the legendary Five Spot.

THE CHAPEL at the First Unitarian Church (2125 Chestnut Street )

1:00pm – Oxygen for the Ears: Living Jazz (94 min) (Music Documentary- Dir. Stefan Immler)
'Oxygen for the Ears: Living Jazz' is a story of the trials and triumphs of jazz in America. Every jazz tune has a starting point - a simple note - from which the music starts its journey and rises. 'Oxygen for the Ears' portrays Washington D.C. as such a departure point for its documentary story, 'Living Jazz'.

MIDNIGHT MOVIES WITH PIFF

PIFF is dedicated to programming films for a diverse audience, including all our fellow Night Owls out there.  So join us for some sinister cinema starting at midnight tonight:

First Unitarian Church - The Sanctuary
12:00am-1:20am – Towers (71 min) (Sci-Fi)
Dir. Jet Wintzer
When the human race can no longer feel happiness, peace or joy due to mutations caused by radiation from cell phones and towers, humanity becomes virtually extinct.

DIRECTOR'S LOUNGE AT THE FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH

Directors and Filmmakers: join us nightly after screenings wrap at the PIFF Headquarters at the First Unitarian Church for a Director's Lounge and open bar. Break down the evening, relax with a cocktail and hook up with your next screenplay-writing partner.

First Unitarian Church
2125 Chestnut Street , Philadelphia, PA 19103

The Harmonica Lewinskis LIVE TONIGHT at the First Unitarian Church

Join us for an electrifying live performance in the Sanctuary of the First Unitarian Church by the New York-based band The Harmonica Lewinskis. The Lewsinskis will rock your face off with their rollicking blend of American South and Brazilian Bossanova music. Here’s a taste of what they’ll be bringing to the FU Church tonight:

http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/artist_videos/1445899

First Unitarian Church
2125 Chestnut Street , Philadelphia, PA 19103

PIFF TRESTLE INN EXTENDED HAPPY HOUR

Filmmakers, film lovers, drinking enthusiasts: transport yourself to the Trestle Inn tonight for an extended Happy Hour until 9pm to support the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival. Join us in hiding from the rain, listening some sweet tunes and hobnobbing with hardworking indie filmmakers.

The Trestle Inn will be running this extended Happy Hour through tomorrow. Just show your PIFF ticket stubs or passes for $3 drafts, $4 whiskey sours, $5 cocktails, and a $5 Trestle Special (a cold can of Narragansett Lager and a shot of Old Crow)  until 9 pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

All proceeds benefit PIFF, so come sully your liver and help us keep this truly independent fest going!

Trestle Inn
11th & Callowhill
Philadelphia, PA
267-239-0290